Metallic railway-tie



(No Model.)

' R. S.v SEA.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE.

No. 375,005. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

WI T JVESSES lttorneyd F UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE.

ROBERT S. SEA, OF SALVISA, KENTUCKY.

M ETALLIC RAI LWAY-Tl E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,005, dated December 20, 1887.

` Application led Septemberl, 1887. Serial No. 250,286. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. SEA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salvisa, in the county of Mercer and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which` Figure lrepresentsa top plan view of a railway-tie embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation,partly in section, .showing one of the notched side flanges, die.

My invention relates to metallic railway-ties; and it consists in the improved tie which I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and indicate the manner in which the same is carried out.

In the said drawings, Arepresents the body of the tie, formed of any suitable metal, and provided with side and end flanges, a and b, for retaining the tiein position, and also prevent ing the ballast from washing out. The flanges a and b are turned down at right angles with the body of the tie, and the extremities ofthe end llauges, b, are turned inward at c upon the side flanges; or, if preferred, these extremities may extend outward, as shown at d, to more securely hold the ballast in place and prevent the displacement of the tie. The side ilanges extend the full length of the tie, and may have the whole or part of their surface notched or serrated, as shown at c, to give the tie sufficient elasticity to permit the ends which carry and support the rails to spring upward or to resist the pressure caused by heavy passing trains.

It is well known that in the employment of solid or rigid metallic ties, when the ends of the ties are pressed down by passing trains, they often remain so, owing to their inelastic nature. This being the case, manyaccidents have occurred by rapidly-moving trains jumping the track, the cause of which, it has been ascertained, is largely due to this irregularity in the ties. By notching or serrating the side flanges, as proposed by my method, all danger of jumping the track from the above cause is avoided, this result being due to the construction noted and to the employment of a steel plate, B, secured at its center to the under side of the tie and between theside flanges. This plate extends a considerable distance along the tie and in construction tapers toward each end, which is disconnected. It will thus be seen that as the ends of the tie are depressed by the weight of the passing train the ends of the plate B are depressed,in which position the tensile strength ofthe latter is exerted to force the ends of the tie upward, thereby keeping the rail in close contact with the wheels of the train and obviatiug any danger of the train jumping the Vtrack by reason of any unevenness or weakness in the ties. As soon as the weight is removed from the tie,its ends spring upward,becauseof the underlying spring-plate, and resume their normal posi tion.

In the ends of thetie,immediately under the rail, is a block or plate, C, through the four corners of which bolts f pass to secure said plate to the top plate of the tie. This block bears snugly against the side flanges of the tie and prevents the ends of the latter from side movement. The boltsf, which pass through the blocks I) and tie, also extend through braces f/ on the upper portion of the ties, and, in conjunction with other bolts, h, secure said braces to the tie and against the flange of the rails.

The rails D are securely held in position by these braces g and by plates Z and n, the former being secured to the tie between the braces by bolts n and the latter by bolts f and o, respectively.

By reason of the above construction I am permitted to provide a metallic tie that possesses sufficient elasticity to keep the rail automatically against the wheels of the train,and one in which the ends of the tie are caused to resume their normal position after the weight of the train has been removed therefrom.

Y Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a metallic railwaytie having downwardly-extendingside and end flanges, gf a steel plate secured at its center to ICO said tie and having its ends free and bearing under the ends of the latter, substantially as described.

2. rIhe combination,with a metallic railway- 5 tie-having downwardly-extending side and end anges, of an underlying steel plate secured thereto with its ends bearing under the ends of the tie, and a block or plate at the ends of the tie between the flanges to prevent lat- Io eral movement of said tie, substantially as described.

3. A metallic railway tie having side and end langes, the side flanges being notched or serrated to give flexibility t0 the tie, in com- 15 bination With an underlying tapered steel plate having its ends free and bearing under the ends of the tie, the rails, and means for securing the same to the tie, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a metallic rail- 2o Way-tie, of the block or plate C, the braces y and plate m, the bolts j', passing through the block or plate C and through the braces and plate m, and a plate, Z, between the braces, substantially as described.

Roer. s. SEA.

Vitnesses:

NV. P. SEARS, J S. BURRUs. 

